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User blog:ThunderGod Cid/Ongoing Tips for New(er) Users
1. Sandboxes are your best friend: This site's adherence to quality control means that we don't let incomplete pages hang around for long. As such, any page with multiple incomplete sections will likely be labelled with the "Incomplete" template. But since no one prefers deletion, it will likely be much more common for your article to be moved to a Sandbox (which is a subpage of your userpage accessible by creating a page called "User:YourUserName/PageTitle") than it is for it to be deleted. This is very handy because whatever work you have already completed remains and you may edit your Sandboxes in just about whatever way you please, allowing you to tinker with Wiki-coding and formatting until you get the desired effect. This site also does not delete subpages unless by the author's request, so your work is about as safe as it can possibly be while on the site. Some other things to remember: *Sandboxes are supposed to essentially be orphaned pages, so if you move an incomplete article to a sandbox be sure to remove the tags at the bottom that are part of the article preload. If someone else moves the page, they may do it for you, but it is crucial that this be done to maintain the pages that link to all of the completed articles. If you want a convenient way to get to your Sandboxes, you can make links on your userpage (this may also draw the attention of other users who browse around pretty frequently. *If you want advice on your article, you can use the template (without quotations so that it actually works) to link it to theeponymous page. It doesn't seem to get a lot of viewer traffic, but it couldn't hurt. It might also help to voice any specific concerns you may have on the talk page of the article/Sandbox, which may make it easier for others to reply and help you. 2. Use the Mibbet Chat Room: Even before we migrated to this website, many of the more active users frequented a Chat Room called the Tavern. We have since moved on to the aforementioned and linked IRC chat, but quite a few people (myself included) are there almost daily. Much of what is discussed there may seem rather eccentric, but that's probably because we are bored and don't have any D&D to talk about. Just about everyone there is knowledgeable and helpful, and if all else fails you can just spam the link to your article and the odds that at least one of us will look at it are pretty good. The times we are on obviously vary from person to person, but the room tends to be most active towards the evening if you are on Eastern time like me. 3. People to Ask: All of the people listed are pretty reliable as far as this site goes, and are listed here because of their proven knowledge, frequency with which they are on the site or chat, or (in most cases) a mixture of both: *Surgo: Even though he probably wouldn't particularly appreciate being called the head honcho, he is the public face of the site and also on the IRC pretty frequently. his talk page is also linked to the Main Page. Sometimes it helps to just go straight to the top. *Ganteka: Probably the most welcoming person most frequently on the chat and also one of the most easily recognizable since he signs in using his actual username instead of a "Mib####" like some of the rest of us do. Also does his own artwork, which I obviously think is worth noting. *Ghostwheel: Extremely knowledgeable of book material and gameplay (as evidenced by his builds and other contributions). Also constantly present on the chat room, even when sleeping. *Eiji: One of the most frequent chat room people (not always by a recognizable name, but the red text usually gives him away). Knowledgeable and active, if a little odd at times. *Jota: My occasional partner-in-crime is usually on Mibbet, analytical, well-spoken, and probably goes more out of his way that most to ensure an honest and thorough critique. *Anyone else who is on the Ratings Committee or an admin. *Anyone who has a few articles the aforementioned raters deemed worth of distinction (including Foxwarrior and Quantumboost. If anyone has any more advice that they feel is useful (or any corrections of protocol), feel free to comment. Category:Blog posts